Step It Up, Charlie Brown
by Ballz Mahoney
Summary: High School Junior Charlie Brown is used to being walked over which is why he is surprised to find himself playings baseball, which he hasn't done since he was in elementary school against the arguably best baseball player in the state: Jose Peterson.
1. Chapter 1

Step it Up, Charlie Brown!

By Sean Mahoney

It was the bottom of the ninth; score tied 14-14. It had been a rough season to be sure, but Charlie Brown knew that if he could just strike out this last guy his team would make the championship. He'd be the hero.

His opposition stepped up at bat. He didn't look like much at a glance, but Jose Peterson was not a mortal. He had a batting average of .850, something that most statisticians would tell you is physically impossible. That however hasn't stopped the Mexican-Swede from demolishing his competition time after time. Charlie wondered how he could possibly strike this legend out.

"Come on Charlie Brown! You can do it!" Charlie Brown looked to stands to see the Little Red Haired Girl, Heather, cheering for him. He smiled, no matter what happened he had her.

With a renewed sense of determination, he made eye contact with his catcher, Schroeder, who signaled for a slider. Charlie Brown nodded and pitched. Jose confidently swung the bat and instinctively began to dart to first before he heard the umpire declare the ball a strike. Charlie Brown noted the look of confusion on Peterson's face and felt immensely proud.

This time Charlie Brown pitched a Screwball, something Jose hadn't anticipated in the least. The umpire declared, "Strike Two!" as Peterson swag at air. Charlie Brown saw the look on Peterson's face; he was clearly calculating the immanent drop in his average. He clenched the bat and gritted his teeth, yet for the first time in his life, didn't feel an air of smug confidence. That was actually reserved for Charlie Brown for once, who knew that Jose Peterson was too frazzled to hit his next pitch.

The crowd picked up on Jose's disposition and began to cheer for Charlie Brown. They chanted his name over and over, boosting his confidence to levels he never had reached before.

"CHARLIE BROWN! CHARLIE BROWN! CHARLIE BROWN!"

His entire team joined in on the chanting. Linus, Schroeder, Frieda, Eudora, Patty, Violet, Shermy, Pig-Pen, Snoopy, and even Lucy! Everybody wanted to see Charlie Brown win!

"CHARLIE BROWN! CHARLIE BROWN! CHARLIE BROWN!" They continued chanting!

Charlie Brown looked over at the opposing team's player's box. Both Franklin and Roy stared in complete shock at what was happening. Thibault grinded his teeth in hatred at Charlie Brown, "That little punk really does think he's better than us!" he growled to his manager and pitcher, Peppermint Patty. Peppermint Patty herself however, had to hold in her urge to begin to cheer for Charlie Brown herself. Even she, the leader of the opposing team, wanted to see him succeed.

"CHARLIE BROWN! CHARLIE BROWN! CHARLIE BROWN!"

Charlie Brown looked at the stands and noted that the loudest voice was Heathers! She was cheering for him; her eternal hero!

"CHARLIE BROWN! CHARLIE BROWN! CHARLIE BROWN!"

This was it, it was hero time alright! Just one pitch and they'd win the game! One pitch and they'd win the championship! He locked eyes with Schroeder. They agreed on a Forkball. Jose, sweating bullets, gritted his teeth. Charlie Brown threw the pitch!

"CHARLIE BROWN! CHARLIE BROWN! CHARLIE BROWN!"

"Charlie Brown!" He felt a swift jab in his shoulder and let out a small yelp. "Charlie Brown you blockhead! Are you coming or what?!" Confused, Charlie Brown looked around and found himself sitting at a desk in a classroom where everybody else was shuffling out of their seats and out of the door.

"Wha…where am I?!" Charlie Brown exclaimed.

His friend as well as the culprit behind his sore elbow, Lucy van Pelt, groaned, "Where in math class you moron! Mr. Drainoff's lecture must have put you to sleep! Good grief." Charlie Brown looked around and began to recognize his surroundings. He was a high school student, in his junior year. And that's all he was. He wasn't an all star baseball hero. In fact, he hadn't played baseball since he started middle school; he sure as heck didn't make the team.

More importantly though, nobody would have been chanting his name unless it was in blame. Everybody hated Charlie Brown, as evidenced right now when Jose Peterson (who did happen to be one of the school's all star players) walked past him and snidely remarked, "Hey, how bout you snore a little more loudly tomorrow Brown! Anything's better than listening to Drainoff!" Jose's remark garnered some chuckles from some other students which of course caused Charlie Brown to slink into his seat.

"Oh Jesus Christ…" Lucy muttered, and grabbed Charlie Brown's arm and pulled him out of his chair. "Come on you idiot, it's already been two minutes since the bell rang; do you want to be late for the bus?!"

Charlie Brown quickly gathered his belongings and muttered, "Sorry Lucy…"

Lucy rolled her eyes and grumbled, "I don't know why I put up with you, Charlie Brown." Charlie Brown sighed, that's what most of his "friends" probably thought about him. He was just some liability; some buzz kill that they didn't quite have the heart to cut off.

Charlie Brown quietly followed Lucy to his bus. Today's walk was notably not as painful as usual; probably because he was following Lucy. Lucy usually stayed after school, she seemed to be involved in everything: student council, event planning committee, editor of the school's newspaper (which incidentally is considered the most biased school publication in America); Lucy loved to be in the center of it all. All he had thrown at him was a spitball, courtesy of Thibault, who for whatever reason despised Charlie Brown, more than anything else in the universe. Before he got on the bus though, he caught a glimpse of the Little Red Haired Girl, otherwise known to the rest of the school as Heather, walking past the busses with the other notable red haired girl in the school, Frieda, both on their way to cheerleading practice. Charlie Brown's heart sank. The discrepancy between fantasy and reality that was most hurtful to him was the fact that instead of Heather being an adoring fan and devoted lover to Charlie Brown, he didn't exist at all to her and he was regularly reminded that he stood no chance with her whatsoever.

Lucy made her way to the back of the bus; Charlie Brown knew well enough not to follow. You could say that Lucy and Charlie Brown were friends, but her patience for him had an incredibly low threshold. Plus, Lucy would be sitting with her on again, off again, friends Violet and Patty who Charlie Brown had no intention of being near. Violet and Patty were the co-leaders of one of the biggest and influential cliques in the school. Being shunned by them meant almost complete social banishment. Charlie Brown was frequently at the top of their shun list. They often clashed with Lucy, whose brash personality often defied their social decrees.

As Charlie Brown made his way down the bus, he was met with the usual sight of most of the other kids putting their backpacks next to them while staring at him; just to drive home the fact that he wasn't welcome to sit with them. It didn't matter anyway though; he always ended up sitting with his best friend Linus anyway.

Linus van Pelt was certainly an interesting fellow. The younger brother of Lucy, he shared her fierce independent spirit, but did so in a much more refined and thoughtful way. Considered a philosopher at age 5, everybody knew that Linus had done more thinking about the world than products of the Enlightenment themselves. Linus however was never one to push his philosophical beliefs on others (excepting a certain vegetable that he still believed would travel the world on a specific date once a year); rather, Linus would only offer his wisdom to those in need, and let them sort it out for themselves. Perhaps this is the reason why he and Charlie Brown have been such great friends for so many years; Charlie Brown is in constant need of guidance.

Back in elementary school, Linus was bumped up a grade, explaining why he is a junior despite being noticeably younger than his peers. Though Linus was by no means considered as big a loser as Charlie Brown was, he still was one of the school's "misfits" so to speak. Much of this probably had to do with the fact that he associated with Charlie Brown; an action considered criminal in the eyes of Patty and Violet though Linus certainly didn't help matters by insisting on carrying his old mangy security blanket around with him. Back in the first week of freshman year, Linus was a frequent target of the school's numerous bullies. Of course once a bully got a taste of Linus's blanket wielding finesse they stayed far away from him. Linus was well aware that other people thought he was a bit off, and wasn't fazed in the least by it. He'd rather only deal with people who had real substance in their personalities anyway; he had no need for the superficial notions that came with high school society.

This mentality was something he wished his friend Charlie Brown would adopt. It was sad to see how he would beat himself up over the notion that nobody liked him. Linus did acknowledge the fact that most people were unnecessarily cruel to the kid, but he just couldn't understand why Charlie Brown would let such evil people bring him down in the first place. People like that shouldn't matter to him. Whenever Linus would suggest something like that however, Charlie Brown would quickly blame himself for all of his problems and would often tumble down a harmful train of thought that he was no good to anybody.

As Charlie Brown sat down Linus greeted him and then noted, "Oh great, Medusa is coming home normal time today huh?"

Lucy's short fuse engraved in his mind, Charlie Brown urged his friend keep quiet, lest he face her wrath. Linus shrugged, "Whatever, I'm heading to your house today anyway right?"

Charlie Brown nodded, "Yeah, we're not supposed to meet up with the girls until 5ish anyway, so I figure we can play some Crazy Crash Citizens _[the latest fighting game out on the market]_or something until then. "

Linus nodded, "Sounds good Charlie Brown, though I must say that I've practiced a lot with James Buchanan in the past week. I'm definitely going to take down your Henry Kissinger! " The two friends spent the remainder of the bus ride talking about which historical figures would beat each, and for a brief period of time, Charlie Brown forgot about how miserable his existence was, instead focusing on the trivial nonsense that was video games with his best friend.

As Linus and Charlie Brown continued their discussion, Lucy was having a much less pleasant one with Violet and Patty. "Whatchu doing walking with Charlie Brown, Lucy? You two aren't going out or anything huh?" Patty sarcastically remarked.

Lucy, not having the patience for this nonsense curtly replied, "Someone has to keep an eye on him; he's liable to get himself killed walking down the halls."

Violet giggled, "Sure thing Lucy, anything you say." Lucy grunted with impatience while Violet continued to make small talk. "So, I hear that you are planning on running for Senior Class President for next year? How's that going for you?"

"Just fine, thank you very much. Right now the only other people running are Molly Volley and '5'. They're going to be a piece of cake."

Patty sighed, "I guess they have to run elections now huh? I suppose somebody has to fill Shermy's shoes." Lucy gagged at the sight of Patty wistfully talking about Shermy. Shermy was a year older than her; a senior, and was the current class president. Everybody in the school loved Shermy. He was on the track to becoming valedictorian in addition to already being class president, recent favorite to prom king, and quarterback of the school's football team. Lucy personally never saw what was so great about the guy, but most everybody else seemed to love him. What did matter though was he was now graduating, and a lot of the positions he filled would be open.

Violet sneered, "Anyway Lucy, if you are serious about running for president, I'd probably want to be a little more selective about who I associate with."

Lucy furrowed her brow, "You know it's not like I hang out with Linus and Charlie Brown by choice! That little toad is my brother, and he's always hanging out with that blockhead! I have nothing to do with it!" Lucy felt her anger rising as Violet and Patty proceeded to advise her on her campaign.

Charlie Brown and Linus spent about an hour or so playing their new video game together. After the initial trash talking that always occurs whenever two males in the 13-25 demographic play video games, Linus noted Charlie Brown kept incredibly quiet with an air of gloom about him. This seemed to be the typical routine for Charlie Brown; he was always depressed about something. Despite not really wanting to play psychiatrist, Linus asked Charlie Brown, "Is something the matter? You're being awfully quiet." Granted Charlie Brown was usually quiet, but Linus didn't want to say something akin to the fact that Charlie Brown's demeanor was creeping him out.

Sighing, Charlie Brown replied, "Oh no, it's nothing."

Linus rolled his eyes, "It's obviously not nothing Charlie Brown. Was my sister harassing you before you went on the bus? Or did Thibault try starting trouble with you again?"

"No…well I mean kind…Thibault did try to fight me today, but I'm used to that…and Lucy didn't do anything…in fact because I was with her was probably why Thibault laid off today."

"Then what is it? Something is obviously bothering you."

"Oh…it's really nothing. I was just thinking earlier today and…well…I had a daydream about how things could be better and… oh nevermind…"

Linus shrugged, "We all daydream about how our lives can be better Charlie Brown. I frequently like to think that I've discovered some great universal truth and that I use that knowledge to lead everyone to enlightenment!"

"That's…not exactly what I was thinking…"

Linus laughed, "Well then, I would have to wager that you were day dreaming about Heather, huh, Charlie Brown?"

"Yeah…bingo."

"And how you'd never have a chance with her and all of that?" Charlie Brown nodded. They've had this conversation many times before.

"Man, I don't know why you just don't ask her out. You're a nice guy, I'm sure she'd like you."

Charlie Brown shook his head, "I doubt that. I can't think of anything I have to offer. I'm a loser, I'm boring, I'm sure not good looking by any stretch of the imagination, and I sure can't do anything right. I don't know what she'd ever see in me."

"Sheesh Charlie Brown, you know I keep telling you not to talk like that. You think Moses would have ever lead his people to freedom if he felt that way about himself? Or what about the Founding Fathers?"

"Well, I'm sure not Moses or Benjamin Franklin."

Before Linus could respond to his friend's typical depressing behavior, the front door slammed open as Sally, Charlie's younger sister, stormed through in a rage. She stared right at her brother and yelled, "You blockhead! You ruined my chances of making the cheerleading team!" Sally was a freshman, and was adamant on making the cheerleading team, possibly because she believed that cheerleaders were paid handsomely. She reasoned that since most girls on the cheerleading squad were rich, they must pay a lot of money. Her other motive of course was her notion that all boys liked cheerleaders, her sweet baboo included. Despite being fourteen, Sally still hadn't shaken off her borderline obsessive crush on her brother's friend, Linus.

Confused, Charlie groaned, "What are you talking about Sally?"

"When the other girls realized that I was your sister they all began laughing at me! They couldn't possibly stand somebody that is related to you being on the team! None of the girls would take me seriously!"

Linus started, "Now hold on, it's hardly fair for them to judge you based on the merits of…"

Charlie Brown, however, instantly thinking that the Little Red Haired Girl was on the team interrupted his friend, "Wait! All of the girls on the team were making fun of me?!" the sound of desperation clear in his voice.

Sally blinked, "Yeah, duh…"

Charlie Brown sighed, "So I guess they all hate me…"

Sally, trying to recollect back to an hour ago then said, "Well, I think one of them was trying to tell the others to stop."

Charlie Brown instantly perked up in hope, "YOU MEAN HEATHER?!"

Sally laughed a laugh that gave Charlie Brown goose bumps, "No definitely not her! No the other girl with the red hair. You know…the one who always talks about how great and curly it is." Charlie Brown stopped paying attention after sally said 'no'. He had once again been completely crushed.

Linus on the other hand couldn't believe Sally could be so dimwitted, "Are you kidding me? You can't remember Frieda's name!? You've only known her since you were in diapers!"

Defensively Sally replied, "Hey, it's not like I was ever close to her!" She then changed her tone to a much sweeter variety, "Unlike you, my Sweet Baboo!"

Linus grumbled in disgust, "Oh lord, not this again… Come on Charlie Brown, let's go; the girls are waiting for us."

Sally rolled her eyes, "Oh sheesh, what are you two doing with them today?"

Linus scoffed, "We're going to go see _Not Without My Daughter 2_ with them."

Sally gagged, "Why would you want to see that snooze fest?!"

Linus groaned, "Marcie and I have been looking forward to seeing it for a while. It should prove to be an enlightening film documenting a politically unstable region as well as dealing with the cultural-

"Oh brother, forget I asked. And why is my big brother and Peppermint Patty going?" She said with a hint of sarcasm that Linus picked up but was lost to Charlie Brown.

Linus shrugged, "Ms. Donovan is giving out extra credit in history for anybody who sees that movie and does a write up of it. Patty needs all the extra credit she can get. As for Charlie Brown, it's not like he has anything better to do."

"Gee, thanks Linus."

"Well it's true."

Sally, vastly uninterested in anything her brother had to say walked up to Linus, "Well, wouldn't you rather see the new _Sundown_ movie with me, my Sweet Baboo?" Sally blinked twice and tried smile as cutely as possible.

Her charms had no effect on Linus, who replied, "I'm not your Sweet Baboo and I wouldn't take you a Lord of the Rings Live Action Role Play!!"

Sally giggled, not sure what he was talking about and cooed, "Isn't he just the cutest thing?"

Linus moaned, "Come on Charlie Brown, let's get out of here!" and dragged his friend who was too concerned over what his sister had just told him to pay attention to anything else.

Linus and a still gloomy Charlie Brown met up at the movie theater with their two friends Peppermint Patty and Marcie. Peppermint Patty was holding a notepad and a pencil and looked just as depressed as Charlie Brown; no sane person would want to take notes in a movie theater.

Much like Charlie Brown and Linus, Peppermint Patty and Marcie were somewhat social outcasts in school. Perhaps nowhere near the extent that Charlie Brown was, but still considerable. As a kid Peppermint Patty was a tomboy, a role she never grew out of. Peppermint Patty was overall the best athlete in the school. Some people were better than her at certain sports, such as Jose Peterson with baseball, but she was involved in so many sports that everybody recognized her. She was so good, that many attribute the fact that the school got rid of separate gender teams to her dominating performance for the baseball team tryouts back in freshman year.

Compared to many, Peppermint Patty was one of the most well known and accomplished students in the school, which of course many people of higher social status resented. Therefore ever since her school and Charlie Brown's school merged when they all went to middle school, girls like Violet and the other Patty have made her a frequent (though still used less than old Charlie Brown) target of their attacks, usually over her lack of feminine qualities (a sore spot of hers), her affiliation with Charlie Brown, or her dismal performance in academic endeavors (though it's not like Violet and Patty were geniuses themselves).

Peppermint Patty looked at the ways the other girls made fun of her differently. She couldn't care less when it came to her grades; it just wasn't important to her. As for why people made fun of her for being friends with Charlie Brown, she wasn't sure why. She thought it was pathetic how people treated him. Sure he was a bit of a wishy-washy loser, but he was a really nice guy and had been an unconditional friend of hers since they were about nine. He could be a bit dense (but she knew she could be just as dense, if not more so) but he always meant well. Plus she knew how vulnerable he was, and she had a desire to protect him. To be honest, she had something of a crush on him. She had since she was little, though it had dissipated somewhat. Charlie Brown probably would like her back, if he could ever wrap his head around the concept of a girl actually liking him. That was a physical impossibility to him; thus any flirtations or compliments that she would give him would usually be misinterpreted as insults or a way to embarrass him, despite her sincerest efforts to boost his ego just a little bit. Despite being oblivious to how she felt about him though, Charlie Brown was happy to have someone like her for a friend. Sometimes she was a little too eager and pushy for his personality, but she was just as true a friend as Linus who accepted him unconditionally (though she did have plenty of moments of frustration at him). Charlie Brown personally got very upset when others would start to make fun of her for being a tomboy. Some of the less respectful people in the school would commonly make many allegations about her and her friend Marcie, which would upset Charlie Brown quite a bit; though never enough to actually stand up to anyone about it. Charlie Brown didn't see how she wasn't feminine. Sure she kicked butt in sports but she was still very sensitive about certain issues. Plus when she wanted to, she could make herself look incredibly pretty. In fact, Charlie Brown tends to forget who the Little Red Haired Girl is when he watches Peppermint Patty at her figure skating competitions.

Balancing Peppermint Patty out was her best friend, Marcie Johnson. For every bit brash and loud Patty was, Marcie was quiet and reserved. Bar none, the smartest person in her class (heck the school), Marcie would pretty much have to fail all of her classes to allow Linus and her cousin Maynard (who trailed behind her) a chance at the valedictorian spot come graduation. Marcie was probably also the sweetest person in the school. That isn't to say she wasn't above teasing somebody, in fact, at times she could also run for the title of biggest snarker. Overall though, Marcie was the very passive counterpart to Peppermint Patty who often had to rein her friend back into the realm of reality.

As the group purchased their tickets Peppermint Patty immediately began to complain, "This is insane Marcie! Why the heck would I want to take notes in a movie theater?! What's the whole point of going to a movie if you're going to have to write about it afterwards?!"

"Actually sir, there's an entire industry of reviewers who do this for a living. Some of them have considerable clout in the minds of the movie-going public. Besides, you should be happy you have this opportunity to bring up your average." Marcie tactfully responded.

Peppermint Patty rolled her eyes, "You're a weird one Marcie, and stop calling me sir!"

Marcie smiled, "Sorry sir!"

Peppermint Patty groaned and then turned her attention to Chuck, who had just purchased a bag of popcorn and soda; he hadn't spoken a word since they got to the theater.

"Hey Chuck, is something bothering ya?"

Linus, noticing that his friend was still staring blankly ahead gave him a nudge.

"Wha?...Is something--? Oh…no Patty."

"Aw jeeze Chuck, I know you better than you know yourself at this point! I know something's bothering you!"

Linus rolled his eyes, "He's just been thinking about Heather again Patty."

Peppermint Patty sighed, she didn't really like the Little Red Haired Girl. She didn't understand why Chuck was so hot for someone who didn't know he even existed. "You still aren't over her Chuck?"

Charlie Brown began to stammer. Marcie noticing the tense situation decided to diffuse it by reminding everybody that the movie was starting soon.

Two hours later the four friends exited the theater and congregated in the main lobby. Marcie and Linus were discussing the movie together; they both had found it quite enlightening. Peppermint Patty was annoyed because she ending up sleeping through it, so she effectively just wasted ten dollars while Charlie Brown was still brooding; he had probably caught less of the movie than Patty.

"I can't believe this! I wasted ten dollars and my afternoon and I still can't even write this stupid extra credit assignment! I'm no better off than I was before." Patty complained.

Marcie, trying to cheer her up, responded, "Well if it makes you feel better sir, the movie wasn't exactly historically credible."

"Yeah thanks Marcie, that makes me feel loads better…" Patty grumbled.

The group left the building and began walking down the street back home.

"Yeah Patty" Linus continued, "Once they revealed that the friendly shopkeeper was actually the previous Shah of Iran I couldn't take the movie serious anymore."

"The who of the what?!" Patty grew increasingly exasperated; she felt that she should have at least some marginal understanding of what they were talking about. "You didn't understand any of the movie either, right Chuck?"

"Wha..? Oh no… I…"

"Good grief, will you get your head out of the clouds?! Stop thinking about that stupid red haired girl if she upsets you so much! You really need to stop daydreaming so much about her!"

"But Peppermint Patty, daydreaming is Charlie Brown's only strong suit. If you take that away from him, he's nothing!" The group had bumped into Jose Peterson, surrounded by a group of girls who Charlie Brown didn't know by name but recognized as part of Patty and Violet's normal entourage. Jose Peterson was one of the two most popular boys in the school, tied of course with Shermy. Most girls were either loyal Shermy fans or part of "Team Peterson". While Shermy seemed rather aloof to most of his admirers, only really hanging out with Violet and Patty, Jose Peterson reveled in his popularity.

Charlie Brown immediately slinked back behind his other friends. Peppermint Patty on the other hand began to stare him down, "What do you want Peterson?"

"I aint talking to you freckles" Jose spat.

"Oh don't mind her Jose Peterson; Peppermint Patty has just been having a rough day today. You see she wanted to see…"

Patty began to boil over, "Marcie will you shut up!?!" Marcie quickly began to blush. It was no secret that Marcie was deep in the "Team Peterson" camp. Peppermint Patty however was one of the rare girls who didn't like either boy. She had no use for Shermy; she didn't see what was so special about him. Plus anyone associated with Violet and the other Patty was not to be trusted in her book. As for Jose, the two of them are what you'd call the dangerous term: exes. Back in freshman year the two of them began going out, it made sense seeing as the two of them were the best baseball players in the school. However it quickly became apparent to Patty just how conceited he was. Jose was perfectly fine with breaking up; he quickly realized that he could do a lot better than Peppermint Patty.

"Still taking orders from old Reichardt here, huh Marcie? That's a shame." The girls following him began giggling while Marcie turned a beat read. Jose turned his attention back to Charlie Brown, "So "Chuck" word is on the street that you got the hots for Heather eh?" The girls ceased simple giggling and began full on guffawing. Jose turned to his girls and smiled, "Now now girls, at least we now know that Charlie Brown isn't gay or anything. Granted, I mean it's not like there were as many rumors as with your friend Patty there, but still a lot of us were wondering."

Peppermint Patty's face turned redder than Linus's shirt as she began to make a move towards him, only to be held back by Linus.

"He's not worth it Patty!" Linus whispered. Charlie Brown meanwhile stared at his shoes. It was a technique that he had picked up in early middle school. If he just stood there and did nothing, the people making fun of him would eventually get bored and move on.

Jose noticing Patty's anger laughed, "Calm down, I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Patty grumbled something untellable as Peterson continued to smirk, "Look kid, everyone and their mom knows that you practically stalk the girl, so I might as well make it said that you might as well move on." Charlie Brown's heart sank even further, the fact that he had just been called a stalker suddenly felt like a justified insult to him. Was that all he really was? Just a creepy stalker.

Linus noting Charlie Brown's stature whispered, "Don't listen to him man; he's just trying to mess with ya."

Jose rolled his eyes, "Yeah, take advice from the kid with the blanket. See how far you'll go in life. Now listen, as I'm sure you know our school's baseball team is set to make it to regional's and then probably state this year!" Charlie Brown winced, the idea of his baseball team as a kid ever getting pass the qualifiers was laughable.

Jose continued, making sure to show his pearly whites, "And as I'm _sure_ everyone knows I'm the designated hitter _and_ the short stop for our team." His entourage of girls, as well as Marcie, began to swoon.

One girl, Lyida, even shouted, ".850 baby!" Linus sighed when she yelled that.

Peterson smiled, "We all know Heather loves baseball. And with me on the way to be the team's hero…well, let's just say she'll just continue ignoring your existence."

Feeling utterly defeated, Charlie Brown muttered, "Yeah… you're right, I'm sorry Jose…" but was interrupted by Peppermint Patty's shouting.

"Augh! You're not going to take that are you Chuck?! Who the heck do you think you are Jose?! Just cause you're a baseball ace doesn't mean you can go around acting superior to everybody!"

Marcie whispered to Linus, "That's an incredibly odd thing to hear from Peppermint Patty." Linus nodded in agreement.

"Sheesh Patty, I'd hope the pitcher for our team would take baseball a little more seriously! I sure hope the coach doesn't hear about this."

Patty's yelling grew louder, "Screw the coach! I'll tell you what! I'll show you that you aren't such stuff! Me and Chuck here, we're gonna form our own baseball team and kick your ass!"

"WHAT?!?!" Linus and Charlie Brown yelled in unison. Peterson and his groupies stared silently in disbelief for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"HAHA are you kidding me Reichardt?! You're gonna form a team with him?! He's terrible! He can't pitch! He can't hit! He can't run! He can barely tie his shoes!" Charlie Brown quickly looked down, and indeed, one of his shoes was untied. He quickly remedied that, beat red in the face. "Come on, as kids we creamed them millions of times! Hell, we even played for them before we started our own team! Why would you possibly want to play with him?!"

"To kick your ass, Jose!"

Charlie Brown began to stammer, "Now guys, I don't think that this is really necessary…"

Ignoring the blockhead, Jose continued, "Fine, but who else are you going to have on your team? You might be so quick to defect but I can assure you that nobody else is going to defect when we're so close to winning it all this season! Not even Franklin and Roy!"

Patty threw an arm around Charlie Brown, "We don't need 'em! We already know an All Star team waiting to come out of retirement."

Charlie Brown stared at Patty like she was insane, "There's no way this is going to work Patty! Just let this go. It's really no big deal. Jose's right anyway, Heather is never going to go for a guy like me—"

"Oh no you don't Chuck! I'm not letting you slink your way out of this one! This time around, you're going to win! And you'll have me to devote every waking minute making that happen!"

Charlie Brown knew that there was no way that this was ever going to happen. They'd lose. He always lost. Plus, he and anyone else they got save Peppermint Patty were out of practice while their opponents were all seasoned players on their way to the state level! Who knows they may even be nation level quality!? But as Charlie Brown looked into Peppermint Patty's eyes he could tell that she was sincerely determined to helping bring him to victory. That was something he never had from his old team. So even if it was a fleeting dream, it was a still worth pursuing.

…plus if Heather really was a baseball fanatic, beating Jose Peterson would totally make her fall for him. It was his big chance!

Charlie Brown nodded at Patty, "Let's do this."

"That's what I like to hear Chuck!" She slapped him on the back, knocking him off balance. "You hear that Peterson? You're going down!!"

Peterson, eyes beginning to tear up from holding in laughter spat, "Whatever you say Patty! I'll tell you what, you give me a call when you actually get a team together and we'll set something up! Smell ya later!" A with a callous wave of his hand Peterson and his all girl entourage walked past Charlie Brown's group.

After Jose's group was well beyond earshot, Marcie, who seemed to be holding in as much energy as the human body could bare, worked up the courage to yell, "BYE JOSE! IT WAS GREAT TO SEE YOU!" and then went to swooning about how he said her name ten minutes ago.

Charlie Brown sighed, "I appreciate you standing up for me and all Patty, but where are we going to get a team. Jose's right, no one else on the baseball team is going to want to play for us. You don't really think we should get our old team back together?"

"Of course I do Chuck, obviously not everyone is going to sign up for this." She then coughed the names Patty and Violet, "But we'll figure out what to do from there. Besides, we already know at least one person who will definitely be on the team, right?" She and Charlie Brown both turned their heads towards Linus, who sighed.

"I guess there's no way I can sit this out, huh?"

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Step it Up, Charlie Brown!

By Sean Mahoney

Chapter 2

Jose Peterson sat comfortably in his father's armchair; the rest of the school's baseball team was scattered around his living room; all of the team except Peppermint Patty. Jose greeted his guests, "Glad everybody could make it on such short notice."

Molly Volley, a brute of a girl who despite her personal preference for tennis was a rather effective short stop grunted, "This better be good Peterson, I'm supposed to be at a mixed doubles match!"

Peterson smiled, "Which is why I thank you greatly Molly. I'm glad to see that you are putting baseball in front of tennis. After all, we are on track to go to state!"

Roy, a rather shy 3rd baseman replied, "I have a lot of homework to work on, so maybe if you could get to the point Jose?"

"Alright, sheesh. I'd like to let you know that we will be playing an extra game this season. We've been challenged by an unofficial team who thinks that they are better than us."

Thibault, the team's second baseman, began to furrow a brow, "Who are these punks?"

Jose grinned, "Charlie Brown and his friends. I saw him earlier; they think they have a shot against us."

Thibault's face went red, "I knew it! That loser is always going around thinking that he's better than everybody else!" He pounded his fist into his palm, "I say we squash him once and for all!"

Franklin, the team's centerfielder and one of the few students in the school to be known to practice reason on a consistent basis was skeptical. "Charlie Brown would never challenge us. He hasn't played baseball in years." Some of his team mates chuckled. "Besides, Peppermint Patty would never allow us to 'squash' him as Thibault so eloquently put it. This is all just nonsense."

Roy was quick to agree, "Yeah, so let's not bother with this and focus on resting up before the state championships, huh Peterson?"

Ignoring Roy, Jose smugly asked Franklin, "I wonder then Franklin, why do you think Peppermint Patty isn't with us right now?"

Franklin shrugged, "She has better things to do than listen to you spew your crap?" Some of the team looked at Franklin in surprise. It was no secret that Franklin didn't approve of Peterson's haughtiness, but he must have been pretty annoyed to actually call him out on it.

Peterson snapped, "Watch your tone with me Franklin, you're only a centerfielder! You're expendable! We wouldn't be going to state without my excellent hitting." Regaining his cool he continued, "I regret to inform all of you that earlier today I had gotten into a bit of a misunderstanding with Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty. She was very quick to jump all over me, and through her manipulations convinced the vastly inferior Charlie Brown that he had a shot against us. It is unfortunate, but she has openly acted against our team and thus will no longer be pitching for us!" Most of the team gasped in surprise. Roy was especially upset.

Thibault on the other hand was ecstatic, "Good move Jose; I've been saying all along that we don't need the likes of her on our team! She's nothing but trouble that one…"

Franklin cut him off, "Shut up Thibault, no one cares about your grudge. Peterson is full of it! Peppermint Patty loves this team more than anything! She's been the one who was so dedicated to bringing us to the state level in the first place! I highly doubt that she would just up and leave because of some stupid argument."

Peterson sighed, "Believe what you want to believe Franklin, why don't you go ask her herself?"

Roy whispered, "I don't think Peterson is lying. You know Patty man. Of course she would leave the team on the drop of a hat if something pissed her off." He added somewhat bitterly, "Especially if it was over Charlie Brown…"

Franklin sighed and then nodded, "Alright, maybe you are right Peterson. But what do you propose we do now? Sure Charlie Brown's team may have sucked in the past, but they have Peppermint Patty now. Plus that means we are out of a pitcher. I personally don't care what happens in this stupid game against Charlie Brown and Patty but I'd say not having a good pitcher for the state championship is really going to put us at a disadvantage. You probably just screwed over all our chances because you had to go make fun of Charlie Brown!"

Peterson smirked, "Now, now, don't worry about that. I've totally got it covered."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Charlie Brown went over everything in his head once again: there was no way he and Peppermint Patty could defeat Jose Peterson's team. "I can't think of anyone who would want to be on our team Patty. I think it's a lost cause."

Peppermint Patty took a sip of her milkshake and thought to herself. The two of them parted ways from Marcie and Linus and little while ago in order to plan their next move at their favorite little diner. "Even if we could somehow get a team together I don't know how we'd be able to get past their defense." Charlie Brown looked down at Patty's notebook, at the quick roster she drew up of her former team and sighed. The worst member of their team was Joe Richkid, who all things considered wasn't too terrible of a left-fielder.

"Come on Chuck, we can't turn back now. I'm already off the team as it is. Besides, don't forget that while Peterson may be the team's poster boy; I was still the pitcher and the glue that held them all together. Without me they'd fall apart! Heck, I bet I could get Franklin and Roy to switch sides too!" Charlie Brown thought about being in their position; being asked to leave their team, which was on the way to being state champions mind you, in order to join Charlie Brown's team. Charlie Brown wrote that scenario off as impossible.

Not wanting to argue with Patty however, Charlie Brown asked, "So I assume you'll be playing pitcher, so what should I play. I'm not really good anywhere else…well not that I ever was anything as a pitcher either."

"Whattya talking about Chuck? Of course you're going to be playing pitcher! This game is all about you beating that high on his horse asshole, Peterson! If I was in charge it wouldn't have the same impact!"

Shocked, Charlie Brown gasped, "You can't be serious! You don't want me pitching? Are you crazy? We'll never win!"

"I have complete faith in you Chuck." Charlie Brown rolled his eyes, she'd be better off waiting for the Great Pumpkin to pitch for them.

"Where will you play then?"

Patty shrugged, "I can play pretty much any position, Chuck. I'll play whatever position we can't fill. It'll make it easier to get players since we can be a little more versatile. Now think, we got pitcher and second baseman covered. Who else can we get?"

Charlie Brown thought to himself and sighed, "Well there's always Lucy for right fielder…"

Peppermint Patty rolled her eyes, "Oh good lord no Chuck. We do want to win this thing, remember!"

Charlie Brown nodded, "Yeah, plus I don't think she'd want anything to do with this anymore. In fact I don't know why any of my team members would."

Patty sighed, "We're not going to want Marcie either; not that she'd play. We're going to have to get recruiting then; see if you can get anyone tomorrow at school." Charlie Brown had no idea how he was going to accomplish that, nobody in school had any sort of respect for him. Even if he could get someone from his old team they'd still be almost as bad as he was. Nobody on his team was any good….

Charlie Brown's eyes lit up, nobody except _him_. "Patty, I know who we could get! Shermy!"

Patty blinked, "Wait, class president Shermy? Why would he want to play for us, Chuck? He's the quarterback on the football team, he doesn't care about baseball!"

"He used to play first base on my team, before I met you! Trust me, he's really good! I think we may have a chance getting him to play with us too. Everyone knows that Shermy and Jose Peterson are rivals for the 'coolest guy in the school' title. I'll bet you that Shermy would want to show Peterson up!"

Patty thought to herself and then grinned, "You know what I like about you Chuck? You really can be a sly dog sometimes." Charlie Brown blushed. "Alright, you go see if you can talk Shermy into playing for us. Man just think Chuck, you may beat that asshole yet!"

Charlie Brown smiled, the thought of actually winning was certainly a fantasy, but maybe just maybe, it was entering the realm of possibility. And to the victor would go the spoils. Charlie Brown felt a warm feeling inside of him, imagining his team victorious as the Little Red Haired Girl rushes to the pitcher's mound, rewarding him with a big kiss.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Charlie Brown quickly realized that he rarely, if ever, saw Shermy at school, and thus resigned himself to leaving him a note in his locker. Linus, walking with Charlie Brown to the locker asked, "Are you really sure you want to go through with this Charlie Brown? "

"I can't back out of this now…Peppermint Patty really wants me to do this. I can't just refuse; she left her team just to prove a point in my defense."

Linus sighed, "I told Lucy last night, she fell off her chair laughing…"

Charlie Brown shrugged, "Well, it's not like we really want her on our team anyway. She was pretty terrible."

Linus muttered, "We all were. We're going to get slaughtered."

The two boys reached Shermy's locker. As Charlie Brown slipped the note into the locker he sighed, "I just hope nobody else finds out about this. Let's just try to keep this whole game as low-key as possible…"

As he finished his sentence however he already began to hear that all too familiar sound of his classmate's laughter. "Maybe I was wrong about you yesterday, Brown! Dropping off a love letter or something?" Jose Peterson, followed by his usual female followers was laughing at him. Flushed in the face, Charlie Brown tried to explain himself amidst the laughter. Of course the proverbial cat had gotten his tongue.

Fortunately Linus was quick to but in, "Charlie Brown was just dropping off invitations to join our team, Peterson!"

Peterson snickered, "So you're going for Shermy, eh?" He added with a hint of disgust, "What makes you think Mr. Perfect is going to want to play on your team?"

Charlie Brown spoke up, "I've known Shermy longer than anybody else, I'm sure he'll want to help out."

Jose rolled his eyes, "Ever the naïve one, eh Brown? Just because you knew him as a kid, doesn't mean he'll play for you. Hell, I played for you once and I got as far away from you as possible afterwards! Shermy's not going to want to play for you, kid, get it through your head!"

"Why wouldn't he?"

"Shermy's Mr. Perfect: the coolest guy in the school! Do you really think he'd want to stoop as low as to being associated with a dweeb like you?"

Linus responded, "He's not nearly as shallow as you Peterson. Let's get out of here Charlie Brown. We don't need to deal with this asshole." Linus and Charlie Brown walked away as Jose Peterson and his entourage laughed hysterically.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

As Peterson continued making fun of Charlie Brown, even as he and Linus had left; three girls watched the entire scene from a distance.

Frieda, one of the school's cheerleaders, angrily eyed Jose Peterson, "I can't believe that jerk would talk to Charlie Brown like that."

The other two girls, Patty and Violet, weren't quite sure what to make of the scene. "Well…he sure knows how to lace into Charlie Brown", Violet mused.

Patty laughed, "Yeah, I don't think even you'd go as far as to call him gay."

Frieda looked at both of them outraged, "How can you guys treat Charlie Brown like that! He's a really nice guy!"

Violet sighed, "He's a total loser Frieda. He's an absolute embarrassment to the school. I can't believe he had the guts to challenge our school's baseball team though."

Patty interjected, "You know that wasn't all him. Peppermint Patty resigned from the team, she's obviously behind this. She's got Charlie Brown wrapped around her finger."

Frieda glared, "You know, you two are absolutely horrible!"

Patty smiled, "Well, if you like Charlie Brown so much Frieda, why don't you ask him out? He's obviously single."

Frieda immediately gagged in disgust, causing Violet to chuckle, "Such a hypocrite."

Frieda growled, "Just because I don't like the kid doesn't mean I should torture him! You know what; I want to see Jose Peterson get his ass kicked! I'm going to see if I can help out!" Frieda stormed off.

Patty sighed, "I really can't stand that girl. She talks way too much!"

Violet was much quieter than usual though; she was deep in thought. After a moment she sighed, "I agree with her to a degree though. I think I'd rather side with Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty than Jose Peterson and the baseball team."  
Patty looked shocked, "What? I'd never expect to hear it out of you!"

Violet smirked, "It's pretty simple; you know as well as I do that Jose Peterson has been getting way too much clout ever since that baseball started really doing well. Not many people are listening to us anymore. Jose is becoming more and more popular while we are being pushed to the fringe of the school. Just think, if Jose Peterson, the star player of the school's baseball team was to be beaten by the incredible loser Charlie Brown; the whole school would stop taking him seriously."

Patty shook her head, "It's not going to happen. Even if Peppermint Patty is on the team they have no chance."

Violet smiled, "That's why we got to get Shermy to join them. If he can take Charlie Brown from zero to hero, he'll not only have crushed Jose Peterson but secured himself as a school legend…and us with him."

Patty contemplated everything; if Shermy could take down Jose Peterson his legacy would be secured. And has his girlfriend Patty would be remembered as well. She and Violet would control the school, just like they used to.

"Even if they do win though, who's to say that we won't just get the entire school outraged? After all our team stands to be state champions; we could be traitors!"

Violet smirked, "This isn't any of our faults; Jose Peterson is the one so adamant about beating this unofficial team. It'll be on his shoulders should he lose. He'll have let the whole school down."

Patty squirmed, "But the same can be said if Shermy loses. He'd lose all credibility!"

Violet thought aloud, "Not necessarily. We would then just play up the loss as being Charlie Brown's fault…which we wouldn't even be lying about. We'd pin anything else on Peppermint Patty, which I'm sure you wouldn't object to. We just need to play up Shermy as being charitable; trying to help the underdog. If they win Shermy is elevated to hero, if they lose Shermy is seen as a good guy; nobody will expect anyone to help Charlie Brown's team win anyway."

Patty sighed, "I don't like this idea very much, but I guess it makes sense."

Violet nodded, "Then we are decided?"

Patty agreed, "Then we are decided."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"We're sorry Charlie Brown, we heard about what happened from Jose Peterson. We really sympathize, but we can't quit the team." Charlie Brown ate lunch with Franklin, Roy, Pig-Pen, and Marcie; the former who was speaking. "We're so close to getting to state; our team can't afford any more people leaving."

Roy frowned, "And I know that Jose Peterson is a real jerk…but we really want to go all the way this year!" Marcie sighed longingly as Roy mentioned Peterson. The guys rolled their eyes and then continued their conversation.

Charlie Brown was disappointed, but could hardly blame Franklin and Roy, "Yeah I understand. I just don't know how I'm going to get a team together then."

Linus grumbled, "This whole thing is absolutely hopeless. Besides do we really want to do this? It's almost like we're trying to turn the school against itself; right when we all should be banding together and cheering them on against Fremont!" Both Marcie and Charlie Brown reacted to that name; they both had had a mutually foul experience with a certain Freddy Fabulous from said school years ago.

Charlie Brown knew Linus was probably right, but this was really important to Peppermint Patty. He still couldn't justify not helping her after she gave up the chance to play at the state level to defend him from some jerk bully. "We got to do this, for Patty…" Linus sighed but nodded in agreement. Charlie Brown then turned his attention to Schroeder, who had spent the entire conversation, incredibly quiet, "Well Schroeder, we really need a catcher. Would you be able to play for us?"

Schroeder quickly responded, "I'm really busy that day, sorry Charlie Brown."

Linus stared at him, "We don't even have a date picked out for the game Schroeder…"

Schroder crossed his arms, "Well I'm sure I'll be busy anyway. I need to keep practicing if I'm going to get into Julliard. I don't have time to play some stupid game; which you know you have no chance of winning!"

Charlie Brown muttered, "Well…I don't know…maybe…"

Franklin sighed, "Look, it's not like I want to sound our own horn or anything, but you don't exactly have the best track record Charlie Brown. I'm sure Peppermint Patty will understand if you call this off. Roy and I will do everything we can to get her back on the team too. It's not like Peterson'll have a choice; we need a pitcher and she's pretty much the best there is."

Roy noted in response, "Well that one girl from Waffleton notwithstanding."

Franklin rolled his eyes, "Must we harp on every detail?"

Before Charlie Brown could ask Franklin to elaborate Pig-Pen cleared his throat. Charlie Brown was afraid this would happen. Pig-Pen was a fairly decent 3rd baseman back in the day. Since elementary school ended though…to put it nicely Pig-Pen had really let himself go. It wasn't like Charlie Brown was in much better shape, in fact most people considered him fat, but Pig-Pen had taken things to a new level. Since middle school began he had sort of become the defacto leader of the nerds and misfits of the school; and underground battle against the tyranny of the Violets and Petersons. It gave those like Charlie Brown, Linus, and Marcie a place to fit in at least; and Pig-Pen was only naturally the leader, he had the most pride after all. That didn't mean he took care of himself though: he was still incredibly messy in addition to being sure to miss every period of gym class. One time he tried to get out of swimming by claiming he had polio. Obviously that didn't go too well. Charlie Brown however was in that dreaded position of 'beggars can't be choosers' as had to ask, "You wouldn't be interested in playing 3rd base, would you Pig-Pen?"

Pig-Pen stroked his chin and thought aloud, "Well I don't know Charlie Brown; I'll have to check my schedule first to see…" Linus and Charlie Brown both stared at Pig-Pen annoyed. He wasn't exactly fooling anyone, "..but yeah I should be able to play."

"Well at least that's someone." Linus muttered.

"Yeah, one top of me, you, and Peppermint Patty….we still need more than half a team." Charlie Brown and Linus sighed; this idea was looking worse and worse by the minute.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

After school Linus and Charlie Brown went back to Charlie Brown's for their normal ritual of video games. "You know Charlie Brown, if we even can get a team together; we're going to have to start practicing. The only one on our team so far who's played any sport in the past four years is Peppermint Patty. "

Charlie Brown winced, he dread to think about having to practice. In fact, the only thing he feared more than baseball practice was the game itself. "Don't remind me. Ah…you cheating little…" Charlie Brown growled at Linus, who had killed Charlie Brown's character while he was in thought.

Snoopy, watching the two play, laughed at his master's misfortune. "Oh go back to sleep Snoopy…lazy dog." Charlie grumbled.

Snoopy stuck out his tongue at the round headed kid who muttered to Linus, "You know, some dogs respect their masters!"

Linus rolled his eyes, "I'm sure Lucy would have a ton to say about that." Charlie Brown shook his head, putting down his controller. Linus asked, "So, how many more positions do we actually have to fill anyway?"

Charlie Brown flipped through his notebook to the paper he wrote the team's positions on. Looking at the paper he felt like crying, "Catcher, 1st, Shortstop, and all three field positions!" Snoopy's ears rose upon hearing shortstop.

Linus shook his head in defeat; catching himself to remark, "Well Peppermint Patty is going to fill one of those positions right?"

"We're still missing five… and some of them being infield positions! We could get by with any old fielders…"

Linus continued, "…but without a shortstop we're finished." Snoopy immediately jumped up, imitating the stance of a baseball player in the infield.

Charlie Brown rolled his eyes, "Come on Snoopy, you know that you are way too old for baseball!" Snoopy cringed at the ageist remark; he did not like to think that he was past his prime. Woodstock, his ever present avian friend began laughing at an embarrassed Snoopy.

Woodstock continued his mocking, imitating an old man using a walker. Fed up, Snoopy grabbed the bird to teach him a lesson. As he held Woodstock in his hand, a devious idea crept into his head. He shouted at the boys for their attention and then tossed the bird as fast as he could. Channeling his hunting instincts he took off, past Woodstock just in time to catch him with his supper bowl before Woodstock could hit the wall. Woodstock, after recovering from the initial shock, began to understandably curse out Snoopy, "_iii iiiii iiiiii iiiiii! Iii'I iii iiii ii iiii iiiii, ii I'ii iiii iiii iii!" _

"Jesus Christ did you see that Charlie Brown!"

Charlie Brown looked at his dog in shock, "You never cease to amaze me Snoopy! Fine, I was wrong, you can be our shortstop!"

Snoopy grinned at the still angry Woodstock, "_Joe Baseball is back, Woody!"_

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The next day at school Charlie Brown felt a bit more optimistic. At least his team had a shortstop; Snoopy was in much better shape than he expected. Perhaps getting a team together would be easier than he first thought. He approached his locker hoping to hear that Shermy was ready to play first. Peppermint Patty, who was walking with him, looked on eagerly as Chuck opened his locker. As they hoped, an envelope fell out of the locker as it opened. Charlie Brown quickly tore it open, his exciting turning to disappointment.

"What's it say Chuck?"

Charlie Brown frowned as he read,

"_Dear Charlie Brown,_

_ I received your invitation to play first base in your grudge game against the school's team, and while I am flattered, I must decline. I'm incredibly busy as quarterback of the football team as well as my academic pursuits after my upcoming graduation. _

_ Not that I intend to sound pompous, but if you are intending of playing multiple games I would ask you not to contact me in the future regarding this matter. Well all know your track record at baseball is not exactly what we'd call stellar. I'm the kind who needs to win now and then. With you it's different; I think you get sort of a neurotic pleasure out of losing all the time._

_ Best of wishes,_

_ Shermy"_

Peppermint Patty grabbed the letter out of Charlie Brown's hand and read it. She quickly tossed it on the floor in disgust, "Who does that prick think he is? Just cause he's class president he thinks he can go around…"

Charlie Brown sighed, "He's right, there's no we we're going to win this. I never win!"

Patty grunted, "It doesn't matter what that preppy jerk does, we don't need him! I can play first no problem!"

"But we're missing the entire outfield! We can't play without an outfield."

Patty smiled, "Don't worry Chuck, we'll find someone."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The minutes always seemed like hours in math class. Perhaps it was the subject matter; perhaps it was the fact that the teacher may have been over one hundred years old. Charlie Brown had spent the entire class doodling. Though most of the page were just doodles of monsters and stuff from some video game he was playing, at the bottom right there was a sketch of Heather with a speak bubble which read, "Be mine, Charlie Brown." He sighed as he looked at his paper, "It's like I get more pathetic by the hour" and then looked at the clock only to note that the minute hand had not changed once since he last looked.

"Psst Charlie Brown…" Charlie Brown thought he had heard someone whisper, but the only person in math who would have ever talked to him was Lucy, who was up at the board solving a problem. It must have been his imagination.

"Hey Charlie Brown…" Charlie Brown turned his head; someone was definitely whispering for him; probably Jose Peterson to taunt him. Peterson however had his head buried in a magazine, probably one inappropriate for a place of learning.

Charlie Brown looked down back at his notebook but quickly felt something hit his head. "Owch, sheesh." He turned in the direction of the tossed object to see Frieda waving at him. He was shocked, he hadn't spoken to Frieda in years. She was a nice girl, but she always seemed way too far above him. She was a cheerleader while he was…well Charlie Brown.

"Charlie Brown I want to talk to you after class, okay?" she whispered. Charlie Brown nodded, confused as to what a pretty girl like Frieda would want with a loser like him.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Charlie Brown hung back after class to talk with Frieda. He was incredibly nervous; as Charlie Brown had told Lucy, it was almost impossible for him to talk to pretty girls or at least pretty girls he wasn't used to, as Lucy was legitimately pretty now that she was older. Frieda on the other hand he rarely spoke to; so he was literally shaking in his shoes. "W-what's up Frieda?"

Frieda smiled, "Oh nothing all too exciting Charlie Brown. Things have been pretty boring now that the football season is over and we don't have to cheer for the team? Did you see the game against Fremont? Shermy really showed that Freddie Fabulous jerk who's the boss? But I've been mostly just been focusing on studying, and maybe going on a rabbit hunt. I'd invite you along if I knew that dog of yours wasn't so against it. There really is nothing like the great outdoors and the hunt though, I like to think it's a great contrast to being a cheerleader, don't you think so?"

Charlie Brown merely smiled and nodded in agreement with Frieda. He had no idea what she wanted, and once she started on a tangent it was almost impossible to stop her.

Frieda glanced at the clock, "Oh dear! Sorry, I went off track, what I'm trying to tell you Charlie Brown is that I saw that idiot Jose Peterson making fun of you yesterday! That was rotten!" Charlie Brown blushed; it was nice to see someone stick up for him, even a little bit.

"Aw, well, it's no big deal."

Frieda smiled, "And I think it's great you are challenging him to that baseball game! Just because someone's an ace at baseball doesn't mean they can go around bullying people! I think you're really brave!" Charlie Brown's blush went to blood red.

"Wow, t-thanks Frieda, it's n-nice of you to…"

"That's why I want to join your team and kick Peterson's ass!" Frieda pounded her fist in her palm.

That knocked Charlie Brown out of his stupor, "Wait? You want to join my team?"

Frieda frowned, "I know you probably don't want me on your team, I was never that good when we were kids. But I really miss those days when we would all play baseball together. We were all friends back then. Now everybody is in some clique or something and everyone hates each other." Charlie grumbled that everyone still hated him back then. "I'm not going to lie, I don't think I'm a superstar or anything; but I've been in decent shape since I started cheerleading and rabbit hunting on the weekends, I think I'd at least be decent." Charlie Brown noted Frieda sounded desperate, he didn't intend to make her feel like he didn't want her on the team; he was just so shocked that anybody, especially a rather pretty girl like her would want to associate with his team at all.

Charlie Brown nodded, "I'd be happy for you to play. Would you want to take your position of center field again?"

Frieda smiled and gave Charlie Brown a hug. He tensed up like a plank of wood in shock. "Thank you Charlie Brown! You don't know how much this means to me!" She let him go, noting the embarrassed look on his face, "Oh, um yeah, center field is fine! Do you know when the team is meeting?"

Charlie Brown shrugged, "Not really, I figured I wouldn't even bother until I could get a team together."

Frieda took out a pen and scribbled on a piece of paper, "Well, here's my number, just gimme a call when you know." Charlie Brown took the paper, though felt it was wrong, he was not used to getting girl's phone numbers. Frieda glanced at the clock, "Bleh, I got to get to practice, I'll talk to you later Charlie!" Frieda waved as she left, leaving Charlie Brown dumbstruck in the room.

"Did that just happen?"

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Violet was shocked, "What do you mean Shermy isn't going to play?"

"He doesn't want to be associated with Charlie Brown's team. He's trying to be drafted to an Ivy League school after all", Patty replied as she clicked open her locker.

Violet was barely listening, "Doesn't he realize he can finally show up Jose Peterson!"

"I really don't think he cares about that Violet. Jose Peterson isn't really a threat to Shermy's personal ambitions."

"What a selfish, no good…"

"Hey, that's my boyfriend!" Patty scoffed.

Violet grumbled, "Someone still needs to knock that Peterson off his high horse… I can't believe I'm about to do this…"

Patty looked confused, "What are you talking about…wait, no! You couldn't? "

Violet sighed, "It's our only choice. Unless you'd rather do it yourself?"

Patty grimaced, "No way!"

Violet gulped, "Well then, it's time to swallow all of my pride."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"So you got Frieda, eh Chuck? Well I don't know how good she is, but it's better than an empty position, right? Good job kid." Charlie Brown smiled at Peppermint Patty's approval. Including Peppermint Patty to play the last position, they only needed to fill three more positions. The two of them were in Linus's kitchen, discussing the team at the table while Linus micro-waved up some popcorn.

Lucy, overhearing the conversation, sat herself down at the table, "Why the heck would you want that ditz on your team? She's useless!"

"That's a lot better than you could ever say for yourself Lucy." Linus snidely remarked as he placed the bowl on the table. It was met with a swift and powerful punch to the elbow.

"Hmph, you guys are signing your death warrant putting her on your team!" She smiled, "But that's alright, it just so happens I've been pretty bored and decided that I'll be playing right fielder for you guys."

Linus spat out some popcorn, "But you said a few days ago that you wouldn't be caught dead on our team!"

Lucy growled, "Yeah, well I changed my mind. Anyone got a problem with that?"

Both Linus and Charlie Brown shook their heads 'no', but Peppermint Patty interrupted, "Now just wait a damn second Lucille! There's no way in hell I'm letting you on this team!"

Lucy bared her teeth, "Why the heck not?"

"Oh come on! You're terrible. You might be the worst right fielder in the history of the game! Trading Marcie and that pizza for you that one time was the dumbest mistake I ever made in my life!"

Charlie Brown smiled, "That was a good pizza."  
Lucy began to shout, "I know what you're doing! You're discriminating against me because I'm a woman!"

Peppermint Patty slammed her fists on the table, "I'm a girl you idiot! Stop your bellyaching and get out of here! We got business to discuss!"

Lucy gritted her teeth and clenched her fists for a moment, before an idea came to her and she calmed down, "Hate to burst your bubble, Peppermint Patty, but this isn't your team. Charlie Brown's the captain…" she turned to Charlie Brown and smiled, "…and he's going to make sure that I'm on the team."

Charlie Brown began to stammer, "Now Lucy, y-y-you r-r-remember h-how bad you…"

Peppermint Patty cheered, "Yeah, tell it like it is Chuck!"

Lucy grabbed Charlie Brown's collar and clenched her other fist. She glared right into his eyes, "You're going to let me on the team Charlie Brown! Right?"

Charlie Brown nervously nodded, "Y-y-yes, of course Lucy!" and sighed when she released him.

Patty protested, "That was duress! That doesn't count!"

Lucy smiled, "I think this is all going to be quite fun. I'll tell you what Charlie Brown! Let's have the whole team get together…say your place tomorrow?"

"Now wait here Lucille, Chuck's the captain! Not you!"

Lucy stared at Charlie Brown, "Oh I'm sure Charlie Brown doesn't have any problems with any of this, does he?"

Charlie Brown nodded, "O-of course not Lucy."

Peppermint Patty sighed, "You really have no backbone, do you Chuck?"

"Lucy destroyed it years ago. I think it was the 12th time she pulled the football away that did it in."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Jose Peterson sat in the crummy diner located all the way out in Waffleton with Thibault. Thibault complained, "Jesus Christ, the food here sucks. I've never had a worse club in my life! When that idiot waitress comes back I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."

Peterson rolled his eyes, "Whatever Thibault." Peterson didn't think much of the diminutive player. He was a good enough 2nd baseman; and he did like some of his quips about Peppermint Patty or Charlie Brown, but there was something about the punk that rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe it was the sideburns.

"I swear Peterson; this trip out here had better be worth it!"

Peterson smirked, "I don't owe you any explanations, Thibault. You should remember to learn your place. But trust me; there is no better pitcher in the state: even better than Peppermint Patty. Thibault grimaced when he heard her name.

After a few minutes, they were finally joined by their guest. One couldn't be blamed if they were to mistake her for Peppermint Patty: she was of a similar build and hair style. However, her hair seemed even wilder, obscuring a good part of her face, except her nose. Those who criticized Patty's tomboyish would have a field day with this girl.

"Alright Peterson, I owe you a favor, so here I am. Let's get down to business."

Jose smiled, "Damn right you do. Now, as you may know, Peppermint Patty has quit our team. She's started up this upstart team to challenge us to a grudge match. I want her and her little boyfriend completely crushed."

Thibault interrupted, "Wait, you can't be serious! You're going to hire another girl to be our pitcher? This is crazy! Peppermint Patty was bad enough, I'm not standing for another broad as a pitcher."

The girl glared at Peterson, "What the hell is this Jose? You have me meet you out in this dinky diner to be insulted by this punk? I got standards you know, I'm not just going to sit back while a sexist asshole like…"

Peterson nervously smiled, "Oh don't worry about him." He turned to Thibault, "Get your ass outside now! I don't want to see you until we are done!"

Thibault protested, "No way!"

"NOW THIBAULT!" Thibault grumbled as he exited the diner, watching the two angrily through the window. "Sorry about him, he's a real jerk, but no one really takes him seriously. Now where was I?"

The girl, helping herself to some of Peterson's French fries reminded, "You want me to crush Peppermint Patty's team for you. Honestly Jose, this seems really petty. If it's just some grudge game, who really cares? I'd rather focus on the upcoming state game coming up. And you know I can't join the team for that, I don't go to your school."

Peterson smirked, "Oh screw the state game; we'll win that no matter what!"

Though he couldn't see it through her hair, the girl raised an eyebrow, "Look, I really don't want anything to do with your little ego trip then. I take baseball seriously, not as some cheap way to get laid or whatever you've been doing."

Peterson smiled, "Perhaps I forgot to mention who Peppermint Patty's little boyfriend, and the captain, of the team is: Charlie Brown." The girl visibly began to stir. Peterson knew he had this in the bag.

She stirred, _Charlie Brown... the one who hit that ninth inning home run those many years ago…the one who almost ruined my entire life! He told me my Grandfather was a fictional character. He beat me twice! I was the only one ever to lose to him! I lost to Charlie Brown! I was the laughing stock of the entire county. Just because I thought he 'looked cute'. Well not this time…this time he's going to fall, just like everyone else has!_

Peterson smirked, "So perhaps that piece of information has changed your decision?"

She sighed, "You're darn right it has. Alright Peterson, you got Royanne Hobbs as your pitcher."

To be Continued


	3. Chapter 3

Step it Up, Charlie Brown!

By Sean Mahoney

Chapter 3

Jose Peterson locked up the school gym after beckoning Thibault to follow. One of the perks of being the school's biggest hero was his own private set of keys to the athlete's gymnasium, which of course was much more state of the art and pristine than the facilities that most students had available to them during gym class.

"I don't know why you're making us train so much Peterson; we got this in the bag. As much as I hate to admit it, that Royanne chick is pretty solid. I was looking up her stats. We can't lose." Thibault spoke, as Jose finished locking the place up. It was about 7:30pm and was starting to get dark.

Jose smirked, "We gotta keep up the illusion that we're trying. Especially for that state game.

"Yeah, you guys had best keep up that 'illusion'." A third voice stated with obvious hostility. Jose Peterson, recognizing the voice began to sweat. He looked at the open door a few feet down and tried to make a run for it. However he quickly found his shoulders being pulled back by two incredibly large kids. In fact, they had to be older than high school students, perhaps in their mid-twenties.

A figure around Jose and Thibault's age emerged from the shadows, he was wearing a fairly nice shirt, but most striking about him was his large orange hat.

Peterson smiled at the boy nervously, "W-why, Joe Agate, what a pleasure it is to see you!" Joe Agate was a kid to be feared. He was so bad, that he was expelled from school back in the 9th grade. Thibault and Jose Peterson weren't exactly sure why, but they had heard it had to do with intense drug dealing and gang related activity. Apparently some goody two shoes exposed him back then and ever since he had been banned from the school premises; being forced to attend night school at another facility. Thibault knew that he for his standards, Joe Agate was bad news. In his absence from school he apparently made connections with some real scum; not all of them small time dealers either. For a 16 year old, Joe Agate apparently had some clout in the town's criminal underworld; or so everybody heard. Thibault wondered what Agate would want with Jose Peterson.

"Shut your mouth Peterson, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Thibault shot a confused glance at Peterson who was still sweating bullets, "I have no idea what you're talking about Joe, now if you'd just excuse me…"

"Answer my question! Guildenstern!" Joe signaled to one of his thugs, who began to bend Peterson's arm behind his back, dangerously close to its breaking point.

Peterson cried out, "NOTHING! NOTHING! I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING!"

Nervously, Thibault shouted, "Yo, what the hell's going on here? I thought this Agate guy got expelled like two years ago?"

Joe glanced over at Thibault, "I did you moron." He signaled towards his other thug, "Rosencrantz, get the midget with the sideburns outta here!"

The other hulking thug grabbed Thibault by the neck and led him outside of the school. Thibault, given his nature, did not go quietly, "I'M NOT SHORT YOU CHEAP ASS PIECE OF…ugh GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME YOU DIRTY LITTLE…" before Thibault could finish his slur, he was thrown soundly onto the school's pavement outside.

Agate turned his attention back to Peterson, "You have no idea how much you just messed things up! Your little publicity stunt against Charlie Brown can jeopardize everything!"

Peterson looked confused, "Wait, this is all about me challenging Charlie Brown to an exhibition game? How's that a big deal? If anything you should be thanking me; that got Peppermint Patty off the team and you know how close she was to finding out what I had agreed to. We were going to get rid of her."

Joe nodded at his thug who twisted Peterson's arm, causing Peterson to shout in pain. "You moron…of course we were going to deal with her, but in a controlled way."

"Well then why is your goon TRYING TO BREAK MY ARM!"

Joe Agate sighed, "I'm going to assume you really don't know what you've done… It all has to do with our agreement. Your team had an awesome season. That's why I contacted you; everyone in the state knows that with you hitting and Peppermint Patty pitching, you can't be beaten."

Jose continued, "Yeah, which is why we're going to throw the game for you. You guys are the only one's betting on Freemont and therefore you get all the money. With the exception of the large sum you pay to me. I fail to see how anything's changed."

"Thanks to your big mouth, everyone knows about your little grudge game with Charlie Brown's team. You lose that game, then you lose everyone's confidence. Nobody will put any money on you and there, our whole plan's kaput!"

Peterson smirked, "Relax dude, this is Charlie Brown that we're talking about. He doesn't have a chance."

Agate's eyes narrowed, "You lost Peppermint Patty, your best pitcher. Yes our plan was to have her have an accident, but that would be during the State game. You know how good she is. She could crush you."

"Trust me, we got someone better. This isn't a problem. Just think of it as a final assurance to our fans that we are going all the way. C'mon, Charlie Brown never wins anyway."

Agate himself grabbed Peterson's neck, "He's beaten me before you Swedish bastard; don't underestimate him!"

Agate calmed down, but then grew grim, "You know that my boss knows all about this. He's furious with you; it's about more than the money with him…"

Peterson stammered, "Y-y-you mean he knows?"

"Of course he knows you blockhead! He's more connected to this school of yours than anyone else I can think of! If you do anything less than decimate Charlie Brown's team, you're going to have to deal with him…and he's not going to be forgiving."

Agate snapped his fingers, which signaled his thug to drop Peterson. The three of them walked off, leaving Peterson alone, shivering in fear… "…we can't do anything less than decimate them."

Unbeknownst to all other parties, Thibault had managed to sneak in through another entrance and had eavesdropped on much of the conversation. This was all very enlightening information, and Thibault was curious the best way to utilize it.

…

Charlie Brown felt like he was going to have a panic attack. It had been years, but he had once again found himself in the position of managing a baseball team. The team was congregated in his living room; his parents were as per usual, out somewhere. Sally had plans with her friend Eudora so she wouldn't be able to harass Linus tonight either.

Everyone who Charlie Brown was able to get on his team was there, except for Lucy, who said she had something to do quickly before she could make it. Just looking at the group though, Charlie Brown didn't feel too confident. Pig-Pen, Linus, and Snoopy were playing a videogame while Frieda was gossiping with an obviously uninteresting Peppermint Patty. Worst of all, he was still missing two key positions for his team: catcher and left fielder. He figured he'd wait until Lucy showed up before attempting to get everyone's attention: the more times he'd have to call attention the less effective his attempts would be…the law of diminishing returns was well known to him.

Eventually, right as he decided to join the guys in a game of _Novacraft_ Lucy barged in. "Oh Charlie Brrrrowwwn!" she called to him in a very happy manner. "Guess who I brought with me!"

"Your owner?" Linus muttered a little too loudly, prompting chuckles from Pig-Pen and Snoopy and a very nasty look from Lucy."

"You'll regret that when we get home baby brother. Anyway…I brought the greatest catcher who ever lived!"

She dragged a mortified Schroeder into the house, "Um…hey guys."

Charlie Brown instantly asked, "How'd she rope you into this."

Schroeder sighed, "Oh you know…a little bit of a guilt trip over how much of a piece of crap I was back in 9th grade…a little bit of outright threats. You know."

Charlie Brown nodded, "Normally I'd chastise Lucy's underhanded tactics here but we _really_ need a catcher, so you're stuck with us Schroeder."

Schroeder groaned, "Brilliant…"

With Schroeder in tow, Charlie Brown felt a little better about the situation, even if he was still missing a left fielder. Charlie Brown decided to get the meeting under way; "Alright everybody, I think we can begin…" he looked around to see that only Peppermint Patty and Lucy were listening. Frieda was apparently talking to nobody, the guys were still playing video games, and Schroeder poured himself some soda and blankly stared at the wall. "Um excuse me everyone…"

"SNOOPY YOU DIRTY SON OF A BITCH! THAT WAS CAMPING!" Pig-Pen shouted, subsequently throwing Charlie Brown's controller onto the floor, shattering it.

Charlie Brown winced at his damaged controller and tried raising his voice, "Excuse me…as your manager I need everyone to…"

Lucy, getting frustrated at the scene walked over to Charlie Brown's videogame console, turned it off amongst curses from Linus, Snoopy, and Pig-Pen, and then shouted at the entire room, "SHUT THE HELL UP! YOUR MANAGER IS SPEAKING!" She then turned to Charlie Brown and smiled, "They're all yours manager."

"Charlie Brown stammered for a moment then continued, "Er-thank you Lucy. Anyway guys, thank you all for agreeing to volunteer to be a part of the team. It means a lot to have you all here."

"Hmph, 'volunteer', that's a good one." Schroeder mumbled.

"It's great that we got most of the old team together! Plus we have Peppermint Patty on our team, and she's actually good!"

Peppermint Patty tapped on his shoulder, "Perhaps you should show a _little_ more faith in the rest of your team on day one Chuck."

"Um yeah, of course…So anyway most of us are coming out of retirement here and we are facing one of the two best teams in the state!"

Pig-Pen muttered, "Plus they're the favored of the two teams…"

Most of the other team began to mutter in disappointment. Charlie Brown quickly reacted, "But that doesn't mean we don't stand a chance! We just need to step up our training. For the next week we are going to have to train every day! At least two hours a day!" Most of the team groaned, Charlie Brown had to catch himself before he joined in their disappointment.

"C'mon you wussies, you all need a good work out, Chuck here included!" Peppermint Patty slapped Charlie Brown on the back, knocking him off balance. "That's why I'm going to be in charge of the training regimen!"

Charlie Brown gave a sigh of relief; at least she knew what she was doing.

Charlie Brown continued, "So yes, thank you Peppermint Patty. Now we need to all agree…"

"Stop the meeting! Stop the meeting!" Charlie Brown looked up to see that he had another guest, an uninvited one at that. Ironic it was that the uninvited guest turned out to be one Violet Grey; who was famous for not inviting Charlie Brown to things.

Most of the room was in shock; Violet must have had something really terrible planned for Charlie Brown, she was always going after him. Lucy immediately challenged her arrival, "Who the heck invited Princess Grey? I know it couldn't have been Charlie Brown!"

Peppermint as well was quick to take the preemptive defensive, "We don't want any of your crap Violet, get out of here!"

Pig-Pen noted sarcastically, "Guys, _the_ Violet Grey was kind enough to grace us with her presence; we are obliged to hear her out!"

Violet snapped a Pig-Pen, "Don't you give me that tone you cesspool!"

Pig-Pen smiled, "I thought you learned by now Violet, unlike Charlie Brown, I am all but impervious to your attempts at breaking my spirit. Think of it like a +5 enchantment to will."

Violet was about to launch another scathing comment at Pig-Pen over how much of a dork he was, but was interrupted by Charlie Brown. "Not that I wish to be rude Violet, but why exactly are you in my house, uninvited?"

She turned to Lucy, "I thought you've been trying to smarten this dunce up a bit Lucy? Some therapist you are. I should think it's obvious: I want to be on your team."

Everyone in the crowd had a different reaction, but almost all of them were negative. Both Peppermint Patty and Lucy were incensed at the prospect of Violet on the team though for different reasons. Peppermint Patty knew how terrible she was to Chuck and didn't want someone like her giving him more trouble than he already had to deal with. Lucy on the other hand didn't trust Violet for a second, and was instantly suspecting sabotage. Pig-Pen was laughing, thinking it must be some joke; he was joined in by Snoopy who was howling quite jovially. Frieda was disappointed; she had hoped to get away from the typical high school politics that seemed to follow Violet everywhere. Linus sighed, bracing himself for the inevitable shouting fest that was to occur. Charlie Brown was downright confused, "Wait what?"

Lucy flat out yelled, "We aren't interested in a spoiled princess like you! Why should we let you play?"

Violet shrugged, "I play Left Fielder, a position that you guys don't have filled. By all accounts I should think that you should be begging me to play, but it seems you are all too thickheaded for that."

Charlie Brown laughed nervously, "Heh, well I suppose…but I don't know. I was kind of under the impression you hated our collective guts?"

Peppermint Patty chimed in, "Yeah Chuck! You tell that she-devil that we don't trust her!"

"Well while I certainly wouldn't out it in those words…Peppermint Patty is right. For whatever reasons you've been nothing but hostile to pretty much everyone here."

Violet stared at Lucy, "I hang out with her sometimes."

"We know that's only because of our mutual hatred of various other parties Violet."

Violet rolled her eyes, "Well what about Frieda? I'm friends with her." Frieda smiled nervously.

Peppermint Patty noted, "You and Patty only keep her around because she's almost as big a doormat as Chuck, no offense to either of you." Frieda slinked back a bit embarrassed while Charlie Brown shrugged in an 'it's true' fashion.

Before tensions could raise any higher, Linus decided to intervene, "Guys, as much as Violet has wronged all of us, I don't think we should all be ganging up on her like this. If we did than we wouldn't be any better than her or her friends."  
Lucy grumbled, "I knew you still have the hots for that spoiled little bit-".

"Er hem," Linus interrupted, "I think I do speak for all of us though when I ask why in the world would you even want to play with us?"

Violet smirked, "It's simple; I want to take down Jose Peterson just as much as you guys do. That smug bastard needs to get knocked down a few pegs."

Charlie Brown muttered to Peppermint Patty, "Well, I guess that's what we are basically aiming for too right?"

"I don't know about this Chuck…"

Violet smiled, "Come on, you guys need a left fielder."  
Charlie Brown sighed, "I suppose I can't argue with you there…alright Violet, you're in." Some of the other kids moaned.

Peppermint Patty glared at the contented Violet, "I'm keeping my eyes on you Grey!"

Charlie Brown took a minute to gasp a sigh of relief, at least this tense situation was averted, "Alright guys, now we need to pick a time to practice. How does 4pm sound for everyone?"

Violet grunted, "Absolutely not, I go to my masseuse at 4, you'll have to pick a better time. I'd say 6."

Lucy began fuming, "Who gives a crap about your stupid massages, 6PM is when my stories come on, and I'll kill anyone who gets in my way of watching them!" She directed the last part at a nervous Charlie Brown.

Pig-Pen spoke up, "Well I'd like to just add in that after 5PM on Fridays is out of the question; I am designated LARP host for this week's…" Charlie Brown's head began to spin. Every member of the team began to bombard him with their own scheduling issues.

"Why did I ever agree to this?" he moaned.

…

It was five in the morning. That was the only time that everybody was definitely open. They had two hours to practice each morning before heading home for a quick (much to the chagrin of Lucy, Violet, and Frieda) shower and then school. Of course, nobody on the team was thrilled at all about having to be at practice at five, except Peppermint Patty who was used to this sort of thing.

"Come on you guys, you look like zombies! Let's see a little life, huh?" she cheered.

Charlie Brown, while attempting to help her, wasn't so convincing, "Yeah…we can't go this far without…" he began to stare blankly until Patty snapped him out of it with a nudge, "…uh, sacrifice! We aren't going to win without sacrifice!"

Frieda grumbled, "I'm certainly sacrificing the quality of my naturally curly hair." Without any time to prep it, it looked like an absolute mess; it was sticking out at all angles.

"Yeah great going Charlie Brown, now we only have 15 minutes to shower before school; nobody is going to take me seriously today!" Violet complained.

Pig-Pen, who looked even more messy than usual muttered, "Showering is overrated anyway."

Linus responded to Violet, "We could have done this earlier if you guys wanted more showering time."

Peppermint Patty happily smiled, "C'mon Linus, you know that I always start my mile run at 4. Otherwise we would have done it then."

Lucy grumbled, "What a pity."

Peppermint Patty turned to Charlie Brown, "Alright Chuck, let's quit wasting time, what's your plan of action?"  
Charlie Brown flinched; he hadn't done any actual preparing. "Oh…well…I was thinking…"

Peppermint Patty sighed, "Of course you didn't think anything up…"

Violet once again complained, "Oh great, thank you so much for not wasting my time Charlie Brown!"

After quit a bit more arguing, they agreed on practicing their fielding. Charlie Brown pitched to Peppermint Patty, who would easily belt all of his pitches into the outfield.

"So you wouldn't believe what Peggy Jean was wearing yesterday Lucy, someone's really got to rein that girl in." Frieda gossiped.

Lucy snorted, "I always knew she was nothing but a tramp anyway. Remember how she was two timing Charlie Brown?"

Frieda nodded, "Yeah, and she was only in fourth grade!" At that moment Peppermint Patty had belted another ball into the outfield. Lucy stared at it as it fell next to her. She grumbled annoyed, picked it up, and walked to the pitcher's mound.  
"Tell Peppermint Patty to stop hitting the balls towards us! We're in a middle of a conversation here! It's rude to interrupt someone when they are in a conversation, Charlie Brown!"

Charlie Brown moaned, "We're not supposed to be talking, we're supposed to be playing baseball!"

Lucy looked surprise, "You call that playing baseball? You're allowing her to hit every ball you pitch at her!"

Charlie Brown got defensive, "Of course I am Lucy! We're practicing fielding!"

"Well it looks like you should practice your pitching." She looked over at Schroeder. "My boyfriend needs some exercise too Charlie Brown, if Peppermint Patty keeps hitting the balls he's going to get content and lazy!"

Charlie Brown grumbled, "Get back on the field Lucy!"

"Hey, don't you dare talk to me like that Charlie Brown!"

Through gritted teeth he reiterated, "_Please_ get back on the field Lucy!"

She smiled, "That's better", and skipped off, humming to herself.

Charlie Brown muttered, "The things I put up with…" then shouted to Peppermint Patty, "Sorry about that! Perhaps it'll be better if we try for some in fielding plays!"

Peppermint Patty, who by now had written off the outfield, has hopeless responded, "You got it Chuck! Send one at me!" Charlie Brown obliged and Patty smacked a grounder between second and third. Both Snoopy and Linus rushed for it. Charlie Brown smiled at both of their dedication. Peppermint Patty began to circle the bases.

As both the shortstop and second baseman rushed towards the ball Linus yelled to Snoopy, "Don't worry about this beagle, I got it!" Snoopy however refused to yield and sprinter even farther to catch the ball. "I said move it you stupid beagle! You're too old to be pushing yourself that hard." Taking offense, Snoopy rushed past the ball and charged into Linus, knocking the wind out of him.

_Too old, huh? I'll tell you what you blanket carrying wimp, I can still hit you like a ton of bricks!_ As Snoopy gloated over Linus, Peppermint Patty, who was moving noticeably slower than she normally would have ran disappointedly passed the boys at second…then ran past third…and finally headed home as the boy and beagle continued their fight.

"Chuck, I think we got a lot of work ahead of us…"

Charlie Brown thought to himself, _Kill me now…_.

…

"I don't know how we're going to pull this off Peppermint Patty. None of us, save you, have any idea what we are doing." Charlie Brown moaned as he took a sip of his milkshake. Their two hour practice session got very little accomplished, especially since the last half hour consisted of a fight between Lucy and Violet after Lucy took some of Violet's compliments towards Schroeder's catching prowess to be overly flirtatious. It should be noted that Charlie Brown hadn't pitched a ball that wasn't hit so Lucy may have had a point.

After a day of school that was wrought with sore muscles and aching bones for all the team members who were all terribly out of shape (save Peppermint Patty), Chuck and Patty had decided to meet up with Marcie at the diner in order to relax. Even Peppermint Patty began to think the entire prospect futile. "I knew you guys were bad Chuck…I just forgot how bad…"

Marcie smiled, "As long as you guys have strong leadership you'll be able to whip those guys into shape. And you and Chuck are definitely the best quarterbacks I know!"

Peppermint Patty and Charlie Brown both sank their hands into their palms while Marcie cheerily continued, "I mean look at Jose Peterson, he's such a great leader that his team is on it's way too the…." Marcie then caught herself…. "oh…sorry guys…"

Charlie Brown sighed, "Thanks Marcie."

"How'd you get your team to concentrate in the past Chuck? It seems impossible..."

Charlie Brown frowned, "It seems impossible because it is! Why do you think we always lost? They have no faith that we can win, so they don't bother trying."

Marcie noted, "Charles is correct sir, I noted years ago that Charles' team only preformed well when something occurred where they legitimately believed they could win. Of course they usually ended up losing anyway, but in those rare instances they came very close."

Charlie Brown sighed, "Yeah, there were a few times when I actually got the team to frenzied. And we would have one if I hadn't messed up royally soon thereafter."

Peppermint Patty mused, "So if we can find some way to get our team to think they have a chance…"

Charlie Brown continued, "And I don't manage to screw it up anyway…"

Ignoring Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty finished, "Then we'd have the momentum to pull this off. But how the heck can we convince these guys that we can win?"

Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty sighed together and turned their attention back to their meals creating a joint aura of gloom and desperation. They ate awkwardly in silence for a few minutes, forgetting that Marcie even existed. Thus they were quite surprised when they heard her yell out a squeal of joy.

"Eeeek!" Marcie cried, though she quickly stifled it once she caught herself.

Surprised, Peppermint Patty almost leapt out of her seat before quickly asking, "What the heck was that Marcie? I've never heard you do that…" Peppermint Patty stopped herself when she realized what was going on: Jose Peterson had entered the diner. Peterson instantly noticed the trio and after making a quick reservation at the front desk for his party walked over.

"Looks like I'm not the only captain who's famished after a hard day's training huh? Where's the rest of the team Charlie Brown. Didn't have the budget to take the whole team out?"

Peppermint Patty sneered "Looks like now that I'm gone you haven't wasted any time using the team's funds for your own uses. I'm surprised that I'm not seeing any of those tacky fake gold chains you love so much."

Peterson laughed, "Well now I'd be able to afford real ones, eh Patty? I kid though; I'm here on a 'team building' mission. You know to build morale. You know about morale right Charlie Brown?"

Charlie Brown, avoiding eye contact, muttered, "I know of it…"

Peppermint Patty began to raise her voice, "You're letting this creep win Chuck! Don't take any crap from him!"

"I'm just asking because I heard from the grapevine that you had a less than stellar practice session. Apparently you decided to put Violet and Lucy on the same team? Interesting move, but then again, how could I question any move made by manager extraordinaire: Charlie Brown?"

Charlie Brown muttered, "We just need some time to train Peterson, I assure you that we've all gotten a lot better", Charlie Brown lied, looking down at his feet while doing so.

Peterson grinned, "Wouldn't you make an excellent politician, Charlie Brown? Unfortunately we don't have time to drag this little contest of ours on for too long. We need this all squared away at least a week before we go on to our state game."

Peppermint Patty began to yell, "But the state game is coming up in two weeks! You expect us to be able to go against us in a week?"  
Peterson shrugged, "Hey, let's not forget, you guys were the ones who challenged _us_. This Saturday at noon at the high school's baseball field."

Peppermint Patty smugly asked, "Well then, who gets to play home?"

Peterson grinned, "While it is rightfully _ours_ we'll be the better team and allow you to flip for it."

"Aren't we generous?"

Peterson nodded, "I hope you don't disappoint me Peppermint Patty. I'm _really_ looking forward to this team you and Charlie Brown assembled." Peterson turned his attention to Marcie, "By the way babe, anytime you want to ditch these losers, feel free to hang out with us. Ciao."

Marcie's glasses began to fog up and her face went blush red. Peppermint Patty and Charlie Brown both gave her a look that said, "Do it and you're dead". Peterson walked back to the front of the diner, joining up with the rest of the team, which was seemingly unchanged at a glance, in order to be seated.

Charlie Brown instantly began to freak out, "One week? We can't possibly hope to win if all we have to train is one week!"

Marcie patted him on the shoulder, "I don't think any amount of training is going to make any real difference Charles. But if it makes you feel better I have complete faith in you."

Peppermint Patty rolled her eyes, "Once again thanks for your solid support Marcie. Maybe we should give you an MVP award."

"But I'm not playing sir, it wouldn't be fair to whoever on the team really earns it."

"Augh! Shut up Marcie! And for the love of God stop calling me sir!" After taking a second to cool down Peppermint Patty continued, "Alright Chuck, it looks bad, but we really got to kick that jerk's ass. It's still the same team as always, I know all their weaknesses. It's going to be rough, but I think we may be able to pull through."

Before Charlie Brown could respond, he noticed Jose Peterson standing with a strangely familiar girl next to him. "By the way, just thought I should introduce my replacement pitcher; ladies, gentlemen, Peppermint Patty, meet Royanne Hobbs!" Peppermint Patty dropped her glass of soda on the floor and Charlie Brown nearly choked on his burger.

"She has graciously agreed to take time out of her busy schedule in the woman's _professional_ minor league to help me—". Royanne cut him off though, pushing him aside. She walked right up to Charlie Brown and pulled her scrappy bangs away from her eyes, and stared directly into Charlie Brown's.

"I hope you remember me kid. You beat me twice and more importantly: you tarnished the reputation of my great-grandfather. I'm not going to mince words: your team is going to get slaughtered." With that she walked away. Jose gave one more cocky laugh before walking off himself.

Now Patty began to freak out, "You never told me you managed to piss off _the_ Royanne Hobbs, Chuck! Ever since I first met her I looked up to her! Oh my god! We're done. We have no chance!"

Charlie Brown sighed, so much for raising team morale. Their defeat was to be absolute.

_To be continued_


End file.
